As the new dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics, it is my great privilege to welcome you to this edition of Journey magazine. I joined COSAM officially in August, so I am just beginning the process of meeting the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other friends of COSAM. I have been very impressed by all of the great work being done by the folks in COSAM, a small portion of which is described in this magazine.

I have been spending much of my time this fall getting to know COSAM, and I am sure that the folks in COSAM are also curious to learn about me. I come to Auburn from Purdue University, where I served as a professor and, most recently, as head of the Department of Physics. My research has spanned a number of areas including condensed matter physics, nanoscience, computational physics, science education, the neuroscience of learning and memory, and the physics of the piano and other musical instruments. I have also had a strong commitment to the classroom and have written several textbooks. This experience has given me a deep appreciation and commitment to the core missions of COSAM and Auburn University. Indeed, I am eager to get to work in helping COSAM meet the challenges of improving the way we serve our students, building a stronger research enterprise, working with K-12 students and science educators across the state of Alabama, and partnering with alumni and other friends through our outreach activities.

I hope that you will join me in expressing our deepest appreciation to Charles Savrda who has served COSAM admirably as interim dean for nearly three years. He and his staff have been an immense help to me as I have come up to speed, and I will certainly be relying on his advice and wisdom as I work to learn all that I can about this great college and university.

In the coming weeks, I will be focused on getting to know all the students, staff, and faculty of COSAM, and I plan to visit as many COSAM classrooms, offices, and laboratories as possible. I will also be meeting widely with alumni and other friends of the college, learning about your passion for Auburn, and discussing how we can work together to build a better COSAM.